The New Threat
by The Lunatics
Summary: The Heroes must gather together again under the leadership of a boy from the shadows to stop old friends and new enemies from acheiving twisted goals. Based off of Season 2 info. Later chapters will be longer and better. R&R please. Be honest. Really.R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Gabriel Grey woke up surrounded by insects. This, of course was nothing new. He had been for over four months now. But this was different. They wanted to show him something. Maybe he would meet their master. He trusted the insects more then he had ever trusted anyone. Except, of course, for his mom. The insects had rescued him when he was too weak to do it himself. They had cared for him. He followed them down Tunnel Five."

From another tunnel the boy watched. The boy waited. He knew that things were going to come to a head again very soon. And so he called on the shadows.

Peter Petrelli was having an even worse time of things then the shadow boy. He was tired, hungry, and covered in sores. Oh yes, and he was dying from suffocation in the Atlantic.

His brother Nathan was slightly better off albeit several thousand miles away. At least he was on land. However, there was no sign of intelligent life, unless you count the lizard that ran by him earlier in the day.

Nathan Petrelli, politician and NY State Senator, was stranded in a desert in Africa.

Now, to his credit, he had miraculously survived for quite a while considering his nonexistent wilderness survival skills.

Even so, he was going crazy from the lack of people to make speeches too. He could see no way out of the mess he was in, and it became even more stressful when he started having hallucinations about the shadows. There happened to be a lot of shadows in the desert, due to the sunlight, but he could have sworn one of them spelled out his name a second ago. "Aw crap" he thought. "This is gonna put a damper on my career as a Congressman."

"_**Nathan,"**_ the shadows said. "_**You need to fly now. Go back." **_ Nathan was not at all surprised that the shadow knew about his power. It was, after all, an illusion created by his own mind. "_**If you know you're hallucinating, you're not."**_ said the shadows.

"You can read my thoughts?"

_**"No. Your shadow told me. Now fly back to New York. They need you there." **_

"I can't." said Nathan. His brain couldn't even register this. Either he had snapped, or this was another "special" talking to him. "My abilities haven't worked in months"

_**"Oh, do you need a push? Let me help with that."**_ If Nathan didn't know better, he could swear that the shadow of the nearby cactus had taken on the shape of a hand, risen out of the ground, and flicked him like a booger. Ah well. He'd thank the shadow when he saw it again. But for now... Time to fly again. And get a new suit.


	2. The story begins

Author's Note by Madi: You're probably wondering why there's an author's note in this chapter. Well, the other author got shipped off to Alaska. Not that I had anything to do with it. Honestly. Why are you giving me that look? However, he's the only person with a plot idea here so...yeah...We're all doomed past this part unless he spontaneously learn mad polar bear hunting skills. Thank you for reading!

………………………………………………………………………………..

Claude Rains was at his ordinary job in Columbia, South Carolina. By ordinary job, I mean, pick pocketing. He'd chosen Columbia for several reasons. It was a big city but not too popular, it was far away from New York, and southerners were fun to mess with.

Claude was ambling along seeing what he could scrounge up today as he finished his rounds as he called them. Normally he'd have skipped the girl but lately with the easy pickings (as people always are suspicious in New York), he'd gotten cocky.

So without thinking, he idly plunged his hand in her pocket. Suddenly she jumped, spun around, and punched him in the face. Hard. Clutching his face, he staggered backwards, pondering how she'd known he was there and how she could punch so bloody hard

She was glaring in his direction, but not at him. In fact, she was missing him by a couple feet. It was then Claude noticed her shades and realized she was blind. He waited until he was a safe distance away before muttering "Why do blind people always 'ave to 'ave such a bloody good sense of hearing?"

"Next time, don't get so cocky!" the girl said from behind him. "Cocky guys always lose." She held up several items he'd stolen.

"What?" he asked.

Bit confused aren't you?" the girl asked.

"No. I know exactly how you did that. Just not _exactly _how you did it. That's different. I know you're special, at least. Like I am. What can you do? Supersenses?

I sense feelings and what's causing them" the girl said.

"Fine, but how'd you steal from me?

"Not all of us can just use an ability to steal.

With that, the girl left and Claude headed to his apartment. However, when he got there, he couldn't find his key, yet the door was already unlocked. Already dreading what he'd find, he went in.

……………………………………………...

The adoption papers were almost finalized. All it would take was one more court hearing-a formality really-and Mohinder Suresh would have custody of Molly Walker. He couldn't believe it. He was finally going to be a father! He paused as that statement sank in.

"Oh no!" thought Mohinder frantically. "I don't know the first thing about raising children! What if I neglect her? What if I can't support her? What if the Company comes after us? What if we end up on the street?"

Mohinder took several calming breaths and headed over to the courthouse.

Later, at the courthouse…

"Dr. Suresh," the judge said, rather contemptuously, "do you really believe that you are best for this young girl? I mean, you live in a two room apartment."

"I can afford a suburban home, Your Honor"

"You're obsessed with these strange theories..."

"Not that obsesses" countered Mohinder.

"You've only known her a few months…"

"And yet I love her like a daughter."

"Oh well, I suppose I can't argue with that. Sign here please."

Mohinder later met with his new daughter outside of the courthouse. "Well, let's go home" said Mohinder, smiling. I love you ,Mohi...Daddy!" said Molly happily. Mohinder gulped. This was going to take some getting used to.

Unnoticed to the pair of them, the judge walked out of the courthouse and slipped behind a tree. He-or should I say, _she_, began to shimmer. "Mission accomplished." she said to the shadow beneath her. "The girl's in safe hands now."

…………………………………………………………………..

"What are you doin' 'ere?" Claude asked the girl who was rummaging through his fridge.

"What does it look like?" she retorted. "Oh and your keys are on the counter."

"Go home."

"Ok," she said settling in Claude's favorite armchair.

Claude wondered how a kid could be such a smart aleck.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I live in the streets."

"Funny I 'aven't seen a 'ole big enough for you 'round 'ere." Claude retorted with his usual sarcasm

"Can I…uh…?" the girl asked hesitantly.

"No way!!!" Claude yelled

"Please?" She put on a very convince puppy dog face.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!" Claude yelled following up with about three minutes of obscenities.

"Whatever," the girl shrugged. "I'm sure the police will give me a reward for turning in a pickpocket."

"I can 'andle the police."

"Really? I doubt that."

"Why?"

"You're in COLUMBIA for Pete's sake! Obviously, you're not from here if your accent is anything to go by-"

"Oy!" Claude interjected.

"And if you were just looking for targets to steal from, you'd go steal from tourists at the beach," she continued. "So obviously, you need somewhere to hide."

"That's great Sherlock. But why are you annoying me?"

"You mentioned people like me-like you. I'm curious."

"No one noteworthy among them. Believe me, if you're smart, you'll keep your head down and stay away from them. Look, I don't even know your name!"

"Maddie," she said.

"Maddie? Sounds girly to me. I'm Claude by the way."

"Claude? Sounds French."

"Oy! You little..."

Claude had paused to swat at a random fly when there was a sudden knock.

"This is the police! Come out with your hands on your head!!" voices ordered.

"How...What...No way!!! What did you do?!?!" Claude asked accusingly.

"Nothing, I swear! I have no idea how this happened!" Maddie insisted.

Claude began weighing his options. "I can use her as a distraction and leave her to get shot or jailed…or…No way! Not in a million years! Oh no…bad conscience! Bad bloody conscience!!!"

Suddenly there was a loud bang as the door was kicked open.

"Come on!!!" Claude said as he grabbed Maddie, while turning them both invisible.

……………………………………………………………..

Matt Parkman was just sort of floating around, vaguely annoyed. Below him, doctors were working to save him from the bullet wounds but Matt didn't care. He kind of wished they'd just let him go. He wanted to check out the weird light that was just above him. Dimly, he remembered he'd heard stories about it but he couldn't remember what they were. Matt moved-well, as much as a floating spirit can move-towards the light. Abruptly, his way was blocked by some sort of shadow.

"**Whatever you do, don't go towards the light!" **it ordered.

"Why not?" Matt asked.

"**Because it's too early. And besides, you'd be alone with Ted."**

Matt briefly pondered this before he decided that the light wasn't worth the torture of putting up with Ted.

Below him, the doctors sighed in relief. "He's going to be ok."

A mosquito flew by but no one really noticed.

…………………………………………………………………

Claire Bennet was ready the murder that alarm clock. However, that would require getting up, which was exactly what she was trying not to do. Groaning, she finally gave in. Her dad knew her too well.

Recently the Bennet family had moved to a small, unoriginal, town near Columbia, SC called Lexington. (Lyle called it Dead Town.) They were trying to live a normal life and escape the events of New York.

Grabbing some breakfast, she went to the shed to meet her dad for "training." Though why this training had to occur at four in the morning was a mystery to her.

"Morning, Claire-bear," Noah Bennet said. Claire grunted in reply.

"Cheer up, Claire. Today's lesson is very important and I think you'll enjoy it."

"Then why can't we do it at a decent time?"

"Because it's easier for people to focus in the morning."

Claire seriously doubted this as she could only think of her pillow.

"Now, when injured your body automatically regenerates itself. If you, say, lost an arm, another one would grow back. But what if you could control it?"

"I don't know," Claire answered, too lazy to think of another answer.

"If you could control how your body grew, you could change your appearance into almost anything!"

"Like shape shifting?" Claire asked uneasily.

"Pretty much. Why are you nervous? I thought all teenagers wanted to change themselves in some way?"

"Yeah, but most don't have the ability to."

"Will you at least try, Claire-bear?"

Claire smiled slightly. "Alright dad, I'll try."

"Good, now close your eyes and try to picture yourself different in some way. Concentrate on the distance."

Claire closed her eyes and tried to think of something she'd like to change about herself. But having her eyes closed made her want to sleep. Her mind kept wandering to her pillow. Her soft…plushy…comfortable pillow. She could hear it calling, "Claire…Claire…Claire…Claire!!!!"

No, wait. That was her dad.

"Sorry, did I doze off?" she asked.

"Well, that explains why your skin suddenly matches your pillowcase."

………………………………………………………

Sylar never got used to the feeling of the cockroaches and flies crawling all over him. But he wanted to meet the master of these creatures more than he was repulsed by the creatures themselves. Finally, they reached a chamber within the sewers that was surprisingly well furnished, for the sewers. The insects led Sylar to a chair and he sat down (though not on any of them). Impatiently, he waited.

An older woman walked out. She was wearing a mink coat and had very neat, boring brown hair. "Nice clothes you have there, for living in the sewers" Sylar sneered. "Oh, this isn't my place. I'm just a messenger," said the woman.

Sylar was fed up with all the toying. "I'm tired of waiting!" he shouted as he telekinetically hurled the agent against the wall.

Suddenly thousands-no-_millions _of bugs began crawling all over Sylar, biting him. He began telekinetically flinging them off but they kept on coming. In his panic, he released the agent. Suddenly the bugs retreated.

"I'd advise you not to try that again," she said.

"Then show me the man you work for!" Sylar demanded.

"Well, isn't that sexist. But... if you insist…"

Suddenly, before Sylar's eyes, the woman began to change. Her body and clothes melted away, leaving only a small river of running water. There was a sound from behind him. He jumped up in a panic and turned at lightning speed

Before him was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was a little unkempt, but surprisingly clean considering that he apparently lived in the sewers of New York. He had brown hair and a thin beard. All in all, he didn't look particularly threatening... until you saw his eyes. They were an inhuman shade of blue, so dark that they seemed purple or black. Sylar could tell that this man held great wisdom and power within him.

"Ah, Mr. Grey." the man said. "We finally meet face to face!" His accent seemed to be from Los Angeles-he sounded similar to the police officer who could hear thoughts. His voice was deep, but his S's had a strange inflection-almost a buzzing. "I've been watching you, of course-ever since you were born."

"Who are you?" asked Sylar impatiently.

"Who I am is something I will only entrust to you when you've earned my trust-or as much of it as any human can earn. For now, just call me Kane."

As Kane said this, the shadow behind him began to rise upwards. What was happening?

Kane muttered a few choice words under his breath and dodged to the left. "I strongly advise you move to a safer spot, Gabriel. This will get extremely messy."

As Sylar watched from his vantage point, tens of thousands of insects began overwhelming the shadow creature.

"Well, you certainly are a creative little nuisance," said Kane. Sylar could tell he had met whoever-or whatever- was doing this before. "It really is regrettable that you didn't join the Cause when you had the chance. But now, I have our good friend Mr. Grey with me- the first of many from the new generation. He will gladly fetch me your ability."

"Did you honestly expect me to join you?" came a voice from-where else- the shadows. It was a young voice with a slight Southern accent, but filled with experience and hatred for the person to whom it was now speaking.

"I thought I made a very reasonable offer," said Kane. "You help me and I give you a place to live, food, and plenty of good company."

"My parents were infected with West Nile virus, my aunt and uncle were _sucked dry_ by an enormous swarm of tsetse flies, every guardian I ever actually cared about was taken from me, and it was always, always, _**always insects!!**_" screamed the voice. "The shadows have been telling me everything for ten years, ever since I was three years old! They told me all about you-and what you could do. You _**filthy, stinking, MURDERER!"**_

Kane sent a virtual tide of insects rushing toward the shadows, but suddenly all of them froze up, impaled on little black spikes-their own shadows, Sylar realized. He had to smile at the irony. The he finally came to grips with which side he was on and began sending various items at the direction of the voice. Eventually he heard a THUD sound and a young boy, around 13 fell to the ground. He had brownish black hair, tattered clothes, and piercing blue eyes, almost robin's egg colored.

Kane smiled. "Well, my little friend, let's see how useful your ability will be-and how tasty your organs will seem to the flies!"

Just then, a very familiar looking streak of grey slammed through the wall, grabbed the boy and vanished.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Niki walked into the room with a folder and one of those parental "You are in trouble" looks on her face.

"Micah, these grades are unacceptable! I know you can do much better than this!" she said.

Micah didn't look up from the computer he was working on. "Sorry Mom," he mumbled.

"Micah," Niki inquired, "What's been going on?"

"Nothing Mom!" Micah said stomping off in a huff.

Niki looked helplessly at her husband DL who was reading the newspaper. He looked up. "Alright, I'll try and talk to him."

DL went and knocked on the door to Micah's room. "Come in," the owner of the room said reluctantly. DL just walked through the door.

"Micah, you're so much smarter than this! You made a working laptop with Vista out of a freakin' _toaster_ and some wires!"

"I know Dad," Micah answered sullenly.

"OK there are three things that could be making this happen. One: lack of self-confidence. Two- the whole..." DL paused looking for the right description, "thing that happened in November," he finished feeling like he'd horribly understated it. "And three...Nah!" Micah's father shook his head at a slightly ridiculous thought.

"What's three Dad?"

"Is it just me, or did you take a liking to that girl in New York?"

"Uh...What girl Dad?" Micah attempted to avoid the question.

"You know who I'm talking about."

"So you just assumed I took a liking to a girl that I didn't know for more than an hour?"

"I'm a dad. I know how these things work."

"OK _maybe_ I was a _little bit _attracted to her for a _little_ while..." Micah confessed.

"Mm-hm. Now we're getting somewhere."

"I mean it's not like I've been looking for her e-mail address so I could IM her or anything...I mean...Uh..." Micah stammered.

"I thought so."

"Well, see, she had these big green eyes...and her hair…and…I mean...um...Don't tell Mom!!!" Micah said frantically.

DL laughed. "Alright, I won't tell. And I'll help you find her. On one condition…"

"I pull my grades up?"

"Exactly."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Thanks," Maddie said once they were safely away from the police. "You didn't have to ...you know...It would've been easier to just leave me…"

"I'll be sure to remember that for next time," Claude said in his usual tone. "Actually, I'll remember it now. Get lost."

Maddie shook her head, "I owe you."

"Owe me? If you insist, you can pay me back by going away!"

"Oh come on! Give me a chance!"

"Everyone who comes near me gets me in trouble so save yourself the bother and leave!"

"Please?" Maddie gave Claude the doe-eyed look, something she was quite good at. "I could be useful for stuff like picking out good targets, watching out for trouble, or just…well…stuff!"

"Well…" Claude pondered. "You know your way around this bleedin' city right?"

"I have to; it's the only way I can survive."

"So you'd know how to get out without anyone noticing you?

"I suppose so."

"Alright then, you can come as long as you aren't any trouble and do exactly as I say. First sign of trouble, and I'll leave you to the police!"

"YES!!!!!"

"And keep the noise down!"

"Sorry…So where are we going?"

"England. Most likely London."

"England? I've always wanted to get out of the country!"

………………………………………………………………………………

Columbia airport was your typical small airport. A couple different buildings, large parking areas, loud planes, and forks that tourists always had to stop at and read the signs for five minutes while everyone else honked their horns. One of the forks forked again leaving a curve that people parked on while waiting to pick someone up. The curve looked over the runway and provided a view of the front door. Claude and Maddie had driven a car over here (No, Maddie didn't drive and nothing got smashed in the process. Yeah, I know. Darn) and were now proceeding to inspect the place.

There was one other car there but the only occupants were a woman and a girl. According to Maddie, both were too engrossed in a book to notice them. So, using the cars, a couple randomly planted small trees and a pair of binoculars, they were spying on the place. Well, Claude was. Maddie was keeping watch…while fidgeting with the grass.

Claude swore. Several times.

"What is it?" Maddie asked once Claude's obscenities drug her attention away from tearing up leaves and blades of grass.

"There's guards everywhere," Claude said. "And do you 'ave to do that?"

" Sorry, fidgety. And easily distracted. Couldn't we just go invisible and sneak past them?"

" No. They 'ave some sort of goggles and they're probably heat vision. But that means they're expecting us or at least me. And it seems like the only people who know about me 'ave tracked me down again..." Claude muttered to himself before arriving at a decision. "Stop peelin' the back off that tree! We're goin'."

"Augh! Stupid mosquitoes!" Maddie said as she slapped the offending bug. "How soon can we leave again?"

"C'mon!"

……………………………………………………………..

Claude sighed and threw Maddie a look before he remembered she couldn't see it. Then he remembered that she'd know anyways.

"Remind me, why did we sneak on a cruise ship again?"

"'Cause it was a good idea!"

"Why?"

"Well you wouldn't think to look for someone there, would ya? And that means no guards, which means we can sneak on and off. Plus it's going to England, which is where you wanted to go right?"

"Maddie, this ship isn't goin' to England. You're sendin' us to ALASKA, you little thickhead!!!!"

"Uh…oops?"

"Oops? OOPS??? Could you think of someplace farther away from our destination??"

"Er…Australia?"

"Oy! I didn't ask for any smart remarks!"

"Eheheh…I really should run now, shouldn't I?"

"Oh yes."

Maddie started running down the hall and onto the deck. Suddenly, she stopped at a corner.

"What-" Claude began.

"Shut up! Something's going on up ahead."

Someone suddenly shouted, "Man overboard!!! MAN OVERBOARD!!!!!"

More people rushed to the scene, causing a frantic din, and began hauling the person in.

"So, what's happenin'?" Claude asked.

"I can't-make sense," Maddie shook her head. "It's like trying to hear one voice in a crowd of people, you just get disoriented. Can we get closer?"

Now, invisible the duo slipped through the crowd.

"Quick," someone shouted. "He needs medical attention ASAP!!!!"

A medic rushed in. "Where is he?"

"He's right-WHAT??? He vanished!!!!"

"Oh, no," Claude said.

…………………………………………………………………..

Peter woke up and was surprised to find himself dry. Initially, he figured he must be dead. But his pounding head and parched mouth were symptoms of life. He sat up, and immediately wished he was dead.

"Hello, emo-boy. So nice to see you 'aven't exploded yet."

………………………………………………………………………

Madi: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!! Hah! Claude on a cruise ship? Where did that come from anyways? Well, hopefully they'll find the other author. Or was it supposed to be the other way around? Anyways, hope you enjoyed this 11 page slightly humorous chapter. It certainly was fun to write. Thanks to the people who added this story to their faves and be sure to review.


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